One False Step (6 page)

“Me too,” Frank said.

“Something else bothers me, Frank. Why would Elisabeth want us to know how rich all these girls here are?” Joe continued. “Does she think we're fortune hunters?”

“That was a little strange and uncouth,” Frank said. “But some people are only impressed by things like that.”

Joe nodded. “Let's go find Chet, Matt, and Tony,” he said.

The Hardy boys headed through the crowd once again, but this time they ignored every invitation to dance. They slowly made their way through several more rooms, but they didn't see their friends.

“Let's keep going,” Frank said.

“Where?” Joe asked. “This place is really big, but there can't be too much more of it.”

“I need some air,” Frank replied. “I'm hoping the balcony is this way.”

Using his height, Frank managed to look over the heads of most of the people in the crowd and finally spotted a set of open French doors. He was also beginning to feel a cool breeze. “I think we're headed in the right direction,” he said.

“Hey, there's Chet!” Joe shouted to him. “You were right! He's standing by another refreshment table.”

“There's a little more air in this part of the penthouse, so I'm all right,” Frank said. “Let's go check in with Chet and see what he and Tony and Matt have been up to.”

Once again they had to turn down a couple of invitations to dance, but they finally reached the refreshment table.

“Hey!” Chet called when he saw them. “You won't believe the food at this party!”

“Yes, we would,” Joe said. “We've already checked out another table.”

“I'm on my fifth table! Each one has different things on it,” Chet said with a grin. “I never knew there were so many different kinds of food.” He licked some crumbs off his lips.

“I find that hard to believe,” Frank said. “Where are Matt and Tony?”

“The last time I saw them, they were with Alice and Heather,” Chet said. “Did you know that some of the Aérocirque acrobats were here?”

Joe looked at Frank. “Yeah—Elisabeth was telling us they might be,” he said. He turned back to Chet. “Did you recognize any of them?”

“What do you mean?” Chet said.

“Someone was arguing with Elisabeth just a few minutes ago. We thought he was a member of High-Wire Troupe B,” Frank said. “When we asked her about it, though, she said she hadn't seen any of the acrobats here.”

Chet shrugged. “I thought some of the guys here at the party looked like the acrobats we saw in the tent too, but I haven't seen Elisabeth, so I wouldn't know if she talked to any or not,” he said. “The party was already in full swing when we got here, and when we finally saw Alice and Heather, they said that Elisabeth was lying down.”

“There they are!” Joe said.

Frank looked, expecting to see Matt and Tony, but instead he saw a couple of the Aérocirque acrobats. They were dancing with Alice and Heather.

“I wonder what happened to Matt and Tony,” Chet said.

“Nothing, we're right here,” Tony said.

Frank and Joe turned around to find Matt and Tony grinning at the three of them.

“Is this a party or what?” Matt said. “Wow! I haven't had this much fun in months!”

“I see that Alice and Heather dumped you guys,” Chet said.

“Yeah, right,” Tony said. “They introduced us to a couple of their friends, and we danced with them, and then they introduced us to a couple more of their friends, and now I think we've danced with every girl here.”

“Some of the Aérocirque acrobats are here too,” Matt said. “We've talked to a couple of them. They acted pretty friendly, nothing like that guy in the tent—you know, the one who ordered us to get him ice water?”

“Cool. Frank and I wanted to talk to them too,” Joe said. “What are you guys planning to do now?”

“Go back to dancing,” Matt said. “We just happened to see you, so we thought we'd come over here and find out about the robbery.”

Joe told them what they had learned in the Winstons' apartment. “We saw the scratch marks on the balcony,” he said when he finished. “Mario said they were just like the ones on the balcony of the apartment that was robbed last night.”

“I have a feeling they're just like the ones on that apartment balcony in New York, too,” Frank added.

“Well, you two must be thrilled that you've got a mystery to solve,” Chet said. “Feels just like home, huh? I know I'm happy that I'm completely surrounded by food and nobody is telling me not to eat so much! Unlike home—in the best way.”

Frank looked at his watch. “Mario said he'd call me on my cell phone when he was ready to leave
the Winstons' apartment,” he said, “so you guys go on and do what you want to, and Joe and I'll do some sleuthing. There are several things that we want to check out.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Matt said. “Our cell phones are on too, so just give us a call when it's time to leave.”

Just as Frank and Joe started to leave their friends, they saw some of the Aérocirque acrobats.

“Come on, Joe. They look like they're heading for the balcony,” Frank said. “I really want to hear why High-Wire Troupe B didn't perform tonight.”

“I'm with you,” Joe said.

As the acrobats started toward the rear of the penthouse, Frank saw Julia Baker and Gretchen Wall pass them. The two acrobats stopped and looked. One of them pointed. Frank was sure he mouthed the words “Julia Baker and Gretchen Wall.” The other acrobat said something which caused both girls to stop and look back. The acrobats walked up to them and said something that made both girls smile. After a few minutes, they started dancing to one of the few slow dance songs the Hardy boys had heard that evening.

“That's weird, Frank,” Joe said.

“Yeah,” Frank said. “How would two guys in a circus that's only been in town for a couple of days know the names of two of the richest girls in Philadelphia?”

“I don't know,” Joe said. “Maybe Elisabeth introduced them.”

“Maybe,” Frank said.

“I think we need to get closer, so we can hear what they're talking about,” Joe said.

The Hardy boys had only gone a few feet when once again they were intercepted by dance partners who didn't seem to notice that Frank and Joe moved them through the room until they were dancing next to the two couples who were their intended destination.

“Now, take Julia's mother, for instance,” Gretchen was saying. “She's really nice, but she's also a little odd, because she keeps all of her diamonds under the mattress in their bedroom.”

“Really?” the acrobat said.

“Yes, really,” Gretchen said.

“Why doesn't she put them in some bank vault?” the acrobat asked.

“She likes to look at them all the time,” Gretchen said.

“Isn't that dangerous?” the acrobat asked.

“Why would it be dangerous? They live in the penthouse of another high-rise apartment here in the city,” Gretchen said. “Nobody could possibly get in to rob them!”

“I guess you haven't heard about all the high-rise apartment robberies,” the acrobat said. “What if one of the crooks happened to overhear you talking about this?”

“Oh, all of Julia's friends know about it, so it's no
big secret,” Gretchen said. “Anyway, my father said they were inside jobs. He's sure the help is responsible for what happened, no matter what the police say.”

“Really?” the acrobat said.

Gretchen nodded. “I know it's strange, but both the Winstons and the Fulsomes had just fired their limousine drivers,” she said. “Since the drivers were friends of each other, my father thinks they planned the robberies together.”

Frank and Joe looked at each other.

Frank moved his dance partner around so he could whisper in Joe's ear. “Anyone smell a clue?” he joked.

“But where does the New York robbery fit in?” Joe asked. “That's a bit of a stretch, to think that two limo drivers in Philadelphia might know a limo driver in New York—if there even
was
a driver.”

“Oh, I think anybody who lives in an apartment that expensive probably doesn't drive himself or herself anywhere in the city,” Frank countered. “I have no doubt they have a driver.”

“Yeah, Frank, but—” Joe started to say, but he was interrupted by Frank's cell phone.

Frank looked at the screen and said, “It's Mario.” He pushed the receive button and said, “Hello! Okay. I'll round up everyone, and we'll be right down.”

“Time to go?” Joe said.

Frank nodded. “I can't believe it's almost two
A.M
. Let's find the guys and head out,” he said. “I'm getting a headache, but I also want to tell Mario what we just overheard.”

“Hey! Hey! We were wondering where you were!”

Frank and Joe turned to see Alice and Heather.

“Neither one of you has danced with me,” Alice said. She started moving to the music. “This is one of my favorites. Come on, Joe!”

“Detective Zettarella just called, Alice, and we have to leave,” Joe said. “I promise I'll dance with you next time.”

“Call him back and tell him the party is just starting,” Alice said. “One of us can take you home.”

“Well, that sounds great, but Detective Zettarella's expecting our help in solving this robbery,” Frank said. “There are some things we need to talk to him about.”

Alice and Heather both looked disappointed, but Heather said, “Okay, but on one condition!”

“What's that?” Joe asked.

“You told me at the stadium that you'd like to see historic Philadelphia,” Heather said, “so tomorrow afternoon you have to let me and Alice take you on a tour.”

“Well, I'm not sure that we—” Frank started to say.

But Joe stopped him with “That's a great idea!” He took out a piece of paper, wrote down the
Zettarella's address, and handed it to Heather.

“This will be fun. I like showing friends our city's history,” Heather said. “We'll pick you up at noon, so we can have lunch at this little restaurant downtown that's a favorite of ours, and then we'll take a tour of the historic district.”

“We'll be ready,” Frank said, “but lunch is on us.”

“Ah, you are the gentlemen,” Alice said, “but we invited, so we're paying, and don't argue because we're very liberated women.”

Joe grinned. “All right,” he said.

Heather and Alice gave them big smiles and disappeared into the crowd.

Frank and Joe headed back toward the refreshment table where they had last seen Chet.

“Okay, Joe,” Frank said. “I'm sure you have a reason besides your interest in American history for being so quick to accept their invitation.”

“You bet I do,” Joe said. “They're friends of Elisabeth's, and I think we need to find out more about her. Something just isn't adding up.”

“I don't know, Joe. I've decided that she's probably just a social climber,” Frank said. “I think if the police talk to those two drivers, the Philadelphia robberies
might
be solved.”

“But that would make the New York robbery just a coincidence,” Joe said.

Frank shrugged. “It happens,” he said. “We'll see what Mario has to say.”

When they reached the refreshment table, they were in luck. Chet, Tony, and Matt were standing there, eating and talking to three girls.

Frank tapped Matt on the shoulder. “Mario called. He wants us to meet him in the lobby,” he said. “We have to leave.”

Joe was astonished to see how fast the three of them got rid of their plates, said their good-byes, and led the way out of the apartment.

When they got to the elevators, Frank said, “What was that all about? I've never seen any of you guys leave a party so fast.”

“You weren't there to listen to their songs!” Matt said.

“Songs?”
Joe said.

“Yeah. All three of those girls want to be country-and-western singers,” Chet said. “They were trying out some of the songs they'd written.”

“Totally awful!” Tony said. “I was getting a headache.”

“We didn't want to be rude and just leave in the middle of one of their songs,” Matt said, “so when you said it was time to go, it was like the answer to a prayer.”

Just then the elevator arrived.

“Well, I'm glad we arrived in time,” Frank said.

Mario was waiting for them when the elevator doors opened. Bill had pulled the police van up to the front of the building, so they all got in, and Bill
headed back the way they had originally come into the city.

As they drove north on Broad Street, Mario said, “Well, we're stumped, guys. We found nothing new to help with the investigation.”

“Joe and I uncovered something,” Frank said. “Did you know that the limousine drivers of both of the victims' families knew each other, and that both drivers were fired last week?”

Frank heard Mario's intake of breath. “What?” he said.

“We overheard one of the girls at the party talking about it,” Joe said. “She said that her father was sure it had to be the drivers.”

Mario got out his cell phone, punched in a number, and in a few seconds said, “Juana? Are you still at the Winstons'? Good. I want you to find out about their limousine driver. He and the Fulsomes's driver may be friends. They were both also fired last week. There could be some connection. Okay. Yes. Call me when you get through. I don't care what time it is.” He quickly hung up.

For a while Mario seemed lost in his thoughts, so Frank and Joe didn't disturb him. But when they left the Philadelphia city limits, Mario spoke up. “Well, how was the party?”